Contract-for-Deed to Gain Traction

There are many reasons a buyer would look to a contract-for-deed rather than a traditional mortgage. To name a few:
- much lower closing costs
- short time in the home
- short-term investor
- inability to get a mortgage (recent foreclosure, bankruptcy or other credit-impacting events)

Likewise, there are many reasons a seller would consider selling contract-for-deed:
- certificates of deposit and other common investment vehicles currently offer barely 1% returns and contract-for-deed around 5%
- sellers have more control over the real estate transaction
- sellers can get a hefty downpayment and if the buyer misses a payment, the seller can easily take the house back and sell it again with another hefty downpayment

With more people again looking to real estate as an investment and with the increasing numbers of people with foreclosure-impacted credit, Contract-for-Deed terms of sale should again gain traction as they did in the 80's when interest rates rose to 15-20% levels.

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